Estate Planning & Probate Attorney
in St. Petersburg, FL

The Pinellas County Probate Court is part of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. Probate matters for residents of St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and all of Pinellas County are filed with this court. The main courthouse is located in downtown St. Petersburg. Most probate proceedings do not require the personal representative or beneficiaries to appear in court in person — the process is largely managed through attorney filings — but the court's rules and procedures must be followed precisely to avoid delays.

Waterfront and barrier island properties in the St. Petersburg area often carry significant value and may have unique title characteristics — joint ownership, homestead status, or deed restrictions — that affect how they can be transferred at death. Placing a waterfront property into a revocable living trust can avoid probate, preserve privacy, and simplify the transfer to the next generation. It can also allow for more nuanced planning around who inherits the property and under what conditions. For properties held in an LLC or other entity, additional coordination between business, estate, and tax planning is often needed.

If your named personal representative is unable or unwilling to serve — whether because of death, incapacity, or personal circumstances — the successor you named in your will steps in. If no successor is named, or if all named successors are unavailable, the court will appoint an administrator. This is another reason to keep your estate plan current: naming a backup fiduciary you trust, and updating that designation as relationships and circumstances change, ensures the right person is in place when the time comes.

Not always, but a trust can benefit people at many asset levels. The primary advantages of a revocable living trust are probate avoidance, privacy, and seamless management of assets during incapacity. For a St. Petersburg resident with a home, a few accounts, and adult children, a trust can spare the family the time, cost, and public exposure of Pinellas County probate proceedings — even if the estate itself is not large. Whether a trust makes sense depends on your specific assets, family situation, and goals. A consultation with an attorney is the most reliable way to evaluate whether the benefits justify the additional planning cost.

A Florida Health Care Surrogate Designation authorizes a person you name to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are unable to make or communicate those decisions yourself. Without this document, medical providers may be unable to share information with your family, and family members may have no legal authority to direct your care. In a medical emergency, the absence of a Health Care Surrogate can delay treatment decisions and create family conflict at an already difficult moment. Combined with a HIPAA Authorization and a Living Will stating your end-of-life wishes, a Health Care Surrogate is one of the most important documents in any Florida estate plan.

Generally, yes — you have broad discretion to decide who receives your estate, with one significant exception: Florida law provides certain rights to a surviving spouse that cannot be entirely eliminated by a will. A surviving spouse has an "elective share" right to 30% of the decedent's elective estate under Florida law, regardless of what the will says. Beyond this spousal protection, you are largely free to structure your estate as you choose. If you wish to disinherit someone, it is best to do so explicitly in your documents, with the assistance of an attorney, to reduce the likelihood of a successful challenge.

Florida's homestead laws are among the most protective in the country. Your primary residence may be exempt from creditor claims during your lifetime, and there are restrictions on how homestead property can be transferred at death. Specifically, if you are married or have minor children, your ability to leave your homestead to others is restricted by statute — you cannot leave a homestead to a third party if a spouse or minor child survives you. For estate planning purposes, this means that simply placing your home in a will or trust without understanding these restrictions can lead to unintended outcomes. A Florida attorney can help you structure the ownership and disposition of your homestead correctly.

Summary Administration is a shortened form of Florida probate that avoids the longer Formal Administration process. It is available when the total value of the decedent's probate assets does not exceed $75,000, or when the decedent has been deceased for more than two years (regardless of the estate's value). Summary Administration does not require the appointment of a personal representative and is generally faster and less expensive than Formal Administration. However, it still requires an attorney, proper court filings, and satisfaction of any valid creditor claims. Your attorney can evaluate whether Summary Administration is appropriate for a specific estate.

Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, annuities, and payable-on-death accounts control who receives those assets at death, overriding whatever your will or trust says. This makes it essential to review and update beneficiary designations alongside your estate plan — not just when you first create the plan, but after any major life event. An outdated beneficiary designation can leave assets to a former spouse, bypass a trust intended to protect a minor child, or create unintended tax consequences. A coordinated review of both your estate plan documents and your account designations is the only way to ensure everything works together as intended.